Platinum Gaming Edition- Tsuna
by stolen with the night
Summary: Two children were born that night. One would make flames dance along his hands and the other would die at the hands of some nut job, wake up seconds later and realize his entire life was a game. Literally, like a video game, Hit Points and all. So orange flames were cool and all but Tsuna was fixed on one thing- milking the game for all it was worth. Flameless!Tsuna Game!Tsuna


_**Summary- **It was a quirk of fate, two children being born that night. It was a whim of destiny that one would make flames dance along his hands and the other would die at the hands of some nut job, wake up seconds later and realize his entire life was a game. Literally, like a video game, Hit points and all. So orange flames were cool and all but Tsuna was fixed on one thing- milking the game for all it's worth while dodging the weirdos that surrounded his brother. Flame-less!Tsuna._

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><p><em><strong>Warnings- <strong>Flame-less!Tsuna, Gamer!Tsuna, Inspired by the Gamer series, Twin!Fic, Undecided pairings if they exist, Unbeta-ed._

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><p><strong><em>Authors Note- <em>**_Naruto came to an end and I was feeling sad so instead of running to the Naruto fics (like I should have) I went to the magnificent piece of art known as the Gamer. Freaking love that ish and here we are. I'm so sad guys, all of the legends are coming to an end, Naruto, Fairy tail (soon), Bleach, Onepiece (according to some). I don't know what I'm going to do, these are a majority of my life (Ain't that sad? Man I need friends.) WAAA! BOOO! *Additional three hours of whines* Okay! I'm done, enjoy._

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><p><strong><em>Disclaimer-<em>** _Stolen owns zilch. Seriously. Nada._

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><p><strong>Chapter One: New Game<strong>

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><p><strong>(1)<strong>

Tsuna remembered.

More specifically, he remembered the fire. Those weak orange flames that licked at his brothers skin like a lion at it's kill, they grew stronger until they consumed his brother with a ferocity like none he had ever seen before. He expected ashes to be the only thing that remained of Iemaru when the bright light died down. He had been so choked with panic and grievance that his small body could not handle the tidal wave of emotions and he had passed out. He had woken up, Iemaru, perfectly okay Iemaru, by his side and that strange blonde man who claimed to be his Papa hovering near with a smile. Tsuna wrote it all off as some horrifying dream, told his Papa about it, who laughed and grinned, called him silly and Tsuna forgot about the incident with time.

But now here he lay, years later, cold, wet and shivering, blood pouring from scraped palms and the black metal of a gun floating inches above his head. Those same flames he had been both scared and fascinated by flickering in and out of existence from the barrel of the weapon being held by the shadow covered man, who intended to kill him. The only difference being these flames were purple and not nearly as strong as the ones his brother had almost died from.

Tsuna would have cried if he wasn't so terribly scared. He was beyond the point of tears and shaking, instead he lay there frozen and silent, waiting for his end. He didn't know this man dressed in a black suit, didn't know why he of all people should be killed, gunned down before he could even make his mark on the world. The years before this very moment seemed so useless, like he had done nothing with them and in a way, he hadn't. He wouldn't be missed, he never tried his hardest with anything, always gave up before he started them, never studied, never made friends. Even his mother, who would have Iemaru to comfort her, would be better off without her dead beat son.

The gun shifted slightly, the flames moving in imaginary wind before the man spoke. "It's nothing personal kid, just business you see." His voice was rough with age and only the slightest bit of regret could be heard.

Tsuna wanted to kick and scream at the stranger, just business?! What had he ever done to anyone? Instead he nodded, eyes wanting to close but remained stubbornly unblinking. "Just make it quick." He whispered, not wanting to feel pain in his last moments.

A slight incline of the head was all the reply he received before the tightening of a finger around the trigger and oddly enough no sound was made as the gun fired and a purple bullet shot out, spearing through his skull like a knife through butter.

Tsuna's world turned dark, his heart stopped bleeding and his lungs stopped taking in air. Tsuna died.

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><p><strong>(1)<strong>

**Game Over**

Tsuna stared in disbelief as somber music played and scores rolled across his vision. The large bold words hovering in the air over his dead body, the body he was no longer attached to, the one he stood beside looking down at the skinny figure who had no distinguishable face.

**Platinum Gaming Edition- Tsuna**

**New Game**

**Load Game**

**About **

**Credits**

"A game?" Tsuna's voice cracked, "What does this mean?"

With hesitant hands Tsuna reached out to touch the blue box labeled 'Load Game' only for a buzz to sound out in his head and another box appeared.

**No check points have been reached. No saved games available.**

Tapping the exit button Tsuna reached out once more to tap the 'About' box. The somber music stopped and was replaced with more festive tones before words moved slowly across his line of sight causing Tsuna to gasp as his surroundings turned white.

**Welcome to Platinum Gaming Edition- Tsuna! Play as Tsuna, child of Nana and Iemitsu and older brother to future Mafia Don Iemaru! Tsuna is an odd child that was kicked out of the run for Vongola heir when his Sky Flames did not manifest properly, instead the energy formed an ability known as the 'cheat' power, gaming ability, leaving Tsuna flameless. The title was passed to his younger twin brother, but what about Tsuna? It's up to you to decide! Use Tsuna's power to reach the top score but be careful about who you tell about his never before seen ability, in a world where mafia and criminals reign supreme, who can be trusted?**

**Unlock new abilities, level up your character, build bonds of every kind and become number one!**

Tsuna laughed, a real laugh of both relief and humor tinged lightly with disbelief. But what wasn't there to believe, every piece of evidence was right in front of him. It didn't hurt that it all made sense, even if it meant his entire life was some sort of screwed up ability that practically converted him into an RPG character. Those flames that he had saw when he was younger were obviously these 'Sky Flames.'

He felt a brief flash of hurt at remembering his fathers dismissal before shoving it aside, it really shouldn't have mattered considering the man hadn't come home in years. So Iemaru was a future boss of a mafia by the name of Vongola who could sprout flames from his entire body and he was left with some mutation of pre-flame energy? It seemed to Tsuna that Iemaru for once in his life may have gotten the lesser deal.

"It must hurt, all that fire." Tsuna mumbled as he reached out to tap the exit button once more and the somber music restarted, his dead body reappearing.

Tsuna stared at the floating game menu, the menu of his life, he had to laugh at that. He wasn't scared anymore, in fact he was ecstatic. He didn't know why exactly, but he felt excited, bursting with unused energy to start his game again, to play to the best of his ability this time round. And if he died, well he'd obviously figure out how to save his game, then he'd reload and all would be good. This ability of his, it was amazing!

Tsuna giggled before slapping a hand over his mouth, bouncing on the balls of his feet he tried to suppress the childish amount of excitement he felt. "No wonder it's called the Cheat ability, if I manage to find a save point in time, dying wont really be a problem." Tsuna paused, "Though I'll definitely try avoiding it, some deaths hurt. Not to mention I have yet to actually see a save point in all my years of living..." Yep, avoid death.

With all the confidence in the world Tsuna pressed a palm against the new game icon, his world slipping into darkness once more before a naked Tsuna appeared before him.

"HIEE!" Tsuna squawked embarrassed despite no one but him seeing the clothe-less avatar. "Could have at least blurred it out." He mumbled, fully aware that he was talking about his own body parts.

Beside his avatar was a small icon depicting a cartoon eye. Seeing it was the only icon available Tsuna tapped it and the blue box unfurled into a massive scroll the length of his life size character.

**Name(s): Sawada Tsunayoshi**

**Bio: Ousted out, former heir to Vongola Mafia, Tsuna is a lazy child with no goals or aspirations. He is cowardly and a quitter, never once giving anything his all. He spends his time reading manga and watching anime aimed at small children or highly violent ones aimed at adults. Tsuna is clumsy and friendless.**

Tsuna frowned at his description before letting out a sigh, "Fair enough."

It was a true to his character description and so Tsuna could not fault it, though that didn't mean he liked it and now that he knew about the game he was certainly going to try his best to win a high score and hopefully change his description along the way. With another sigh he read on.

**Current Title(s): Former Vongola Heir Candidate (-1 LUK per lvl.), Dame-Tsuna (-3 WIS, -1 LUK, -1 DEX, -2 STR per lvl.), First Gamer (+2 DEX per lvl.)**

**Class: Flame-less, civilian, The Gamer.**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 12**

**Race: Human**

**Status: Alive (On hold)**

**Style: ?**

**Level: 3**

**STR: 6**

**DEX: 13**

**VIT: 19**

**INT: 9**

**WIS: 11**

**LUK: 3**

**HP: 50/50**

**MP: 50/50**

**Points: 21**

**Job: ?**

**Yen: 0**

**Active Relative(s):**

** Sawada Iemitsu-Father**

**Sawada Nana- Mother**

**Sawada Iemaru- Brother**

**Affiliation: ?**

**Skills: (3)**

Tsuna scowled at his statistics, he may not be an big time gamer but from what he could understand, he sucked. There were some references he didn't understand and thankfully there was a small question mark icon sitting in the corner where the cartoon eye was once more. Tapping on it he watched as another large scroll unfurl beside the one showing his stats.

**Bio- _The Bio will describe the basic traits of your character. If the personality or situation changes around your character expect the description to change with it. For example, if one trait listed on your character description was 'Perverted' and you choose for your character to join the monastery then the trait 'Perverted' will be removed from the description box and replaced with a trait more accurate to the character._**

**Current Title(s)- _All titles given to the character will be stated here. Titles taken away from characters will not be listed unless the words 'Former' are placed before title. This is most likely as your character is known for once having this title. Some titles will give additional points to certain attributes while others will nullify stated points to certain attributes._**

**Class- _The classification of the character. Some are more permanent than others and if these classifications are not neutral will impact statistics._**

**Style- _Style of fighting used by character. Unless trained in specific areas 'Style' shall remain inactive. _**

**STR (Strength)- _Strength affects how well you do in physical situations such as combat and manual labor. In terms of combat it impacts the damage you do with both weapons and none._**

**DEX (Dexterity)- _Dexterity effects how well you can dodge oncoming objects as well as your over all flexibility, not only with your body but with your surroundings. Accuracy with hand-eye coordination also increases with Dexterity. Speed will affect Dexterity and vice versa._**

**VIT (Vitality)- _The higher the Vitality the higher the endurance of your character. Vitality also directly impacts HP, by being able to sustain more hits both physical and mental, your characters HP shall be kept constant and the chances of death become less.__  
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**INT (Intelligence)- _Your characters Intelligence plays into the ability to quickly learn skills and to preserve MP as well as to efficiently use MP without draining MP dry. The higher the intelligence means better memory and MP recuperation._**

**WIS (Wisdom)- _Wisdom and Intelligence are in fact two different categories. Wisdom is how smart your character is mentally, analytically and strategically. Wisdom also impacts the ability to learn new skills._**

**LUK (Luck)- _How well the workings of the world play in your favor. Luck factors in all situations and is sometimes the deciding factor in learning new skills, life and death situations and opportunities._**

**MP- _Mana can be used to preform special abilities. Using certain abilities will subtract MP, the higher the lvl. your character the more MP you will have._**

**HP- _Health is measured with a bar. Hit points show the amount of damage you can take, if a blow is dealt, depending on the strength of the attack HP will be decrease. Careful not to drain HP or your character will die. _**

**Points- _Points are gathered when you complete a task or quest, with these points you may place them in whatever category you wish to improve your statistics. If points remain inactive they will automatically be distributed once your character reaches the next lvl._**

Tsuna read and re-read the helpful definitions and tips. It was a lot to take in but it was necessary. "But doesn't that mean that I have twelve points to spend?"

Exiting the help window Tsuna pressed on the points icon. Nothing changed with exception of there being small arrows added beside his statistics. "I could put them into strength but I've never really needed it before..."

If he put some points into vitality then he would have better endurance and then he could increase his vitality and strength through some form of training like running or of the like. But if he put it into intelligence then it would be that much easier to learn things and school was hard as it were, not to mention these skills looked entirely too exciting. If he put points into luck he might be able to stop tripping over things and get rid of that clumsy bit in his description but wisdom could mean better strategic abilities and an easier time in the game.

Tsuna growled lightly, "Thirteen years and I've only managed to make three levels and accumulate twelve points?! Man, I really am useless."

Having made up his mind Tsuna reached out to add in his points. Adding four points to VIT, four to INT and another four to WIS. Each point going in with a ping. Satisfied Tsuna smiled at his slightly increased stats.

Caramel eyes swept up and down on his profile until they settled on the skills section that had not been explained. Not that Tsuna needed it to be, considering it was pretty self explanatory but what confused him was the fact that he apparently had three when Tsuna couldn't think of a single good skill he had. Pressing on the skills another window appeared, only instead of a scroll or blue box, a wide mirror with three icons in the center and 'Skill Window' carved into the top.

The three icons depicted a game console, a cartoon arm tensing and a brain. Frowning, Tsuna tapped on the game console and it expanded into another window.

**The Gamer's Ability (Max.) [Passive]- _Life's a game, literally! You are the first with this power, congratulations! Or not? As the first, we don't really know. The Gamer's Ability sets up the world around you like a game or more specifically, you'll be a game character living in reality, enjoy! This skill is constant._**

"Well that wasn't helpful in the least." Tsuna grumbled annoyed.

Life being a game had many implications, not to mention that description of the skill had been extremely vague. As soon as he started playing again he would have to start researching- which meant playing- a whole bunch of games to see what the general out line for character were, as well as game play. Tsuna exited the window and tapped on the next icon, the cartoon arm.

**Gamer's Body (Max.) [Passive]- _Gamer's body is maxed out since activation of The Gamer's Ability. Gamer's body allows character the body of a game character. This includes restoration of HP and MP levels. This skill is constant._**

Tsuna groaned, "I'm sensing a pattern." He shook his head remorsefully, light brown locks flying about, "None of these skill descriptions are helpful at all, they don't explain anything!"

Maybe it was because he was not a game person in general and it was basic knowledge of a gamer to understand the specifics of how a characters body works but Tsuna had no idea what that meant. "Another thing to research apparently." He muttered as he exited the window and tapped on the final icon.

**Gamer's Mind (Max.) [Passive]- _Gamer's Mind is maxed out since activation of The Gamer's Ability. Gamer's Mind allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows the user peace of mind and grants immunity to psychological status effects. This skill is activated during mass bouts of negative emotions._**

"That explains why I'm so calm about this!" Tsuna gasped. It was true, ever since he had died- or activated his Gamer's Ability- he had not had a panic attack of any sort. In fact, he had proved his disbelief's wrong, accepted it all as true and continued on so that he might play a new game. He even got excited about it and that was something he would never had done before, especially since his face got blown off about a half hour ago. It was truly like a game characters mind, in a MMORPG if a character were faced with death they wouldn't be particularly fearful, just like Tsuna in this moment.

Eager to start playing Tsuna exited the window and seeing nothing else he could do with his avatar and stats Tsuna pressed the continue bar, starting a new game.

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><p><strong>(1)<strong>

**You have slept in your bed. HP, MP and all Status effects have been restored.**

Tsuna stared at the hovering blue window, a smile creeping on to his face. "So that's how _that_ works." In all honesty, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Tsuna hadn't slept, he had blinked, the whole world going black for a single second and when he had woken up the blue notification window was the first thing he had seen.

"That's kind of cool." Tsuna swung his legs over the side of the bed, careful not to get tangled in the whirlwind of sheets wrapped around him. Stretching his arms over his head and arching his back with a yawn Tsuna noticed the calendar on the far left wall. "The day after my death..."

"Tsu-kun!" His mother burst into the room, ever present oblivious smile on her face morphing into mild shock at seeing her son already awake. "Oh, you're already awake."

Tsuna nodded, "Yup, I want to be early for school today." He said as he sprinted around the room tugging pieces of his uniform out from under piles of books and other clothes. Finding things in his room was always difficult considering he never cleaned it. Manga littered the room along with the occasional failed test hidden away in every nook and cranny, cups were piled high on the small desk he had in the corner and his bed was never made. Little pieces of rubbish scattered the floor and he was pretty sure he hadn't opened a window for fresh air in over a year resulting in an accumulation of smell.

"I see," Nana giggled, "Then you'd better hurry. I came in here to tell you that you were going to be late if you slept in anymore." Turning around she exited the room still giggling when she heard Tsuna's startled 'What?!'

A blue window appeared before Tsuna making him dig his sock covered heels into the floor so to stop him from running into it, unsure if he could be hurt by the windows. Successfully stopping Tsuna quickly read what the window said.

**Quest Alert: School rush!**

**Get to school before the timer runs out.**

**Completed: +1 DEX, +1 STR, +50 Exp, positive increase in reputation with classmates.**

**Failure: +25 Exp, negative increase in reputation with classmates.**

**Do you wish to accept quest?**

"All this just for getting to school on time?" Tsuna asked himself. "I can increase reputation too, wow." And even if he didn't make it on time then he would still get experience points, if Tsuna was right then simple things could result in experience and daily routines could be turned into quests.

Reaching out Tsuna tapped his acceptance and a large sand filled hour glass, the same size as him, popped into existence, a countdown clock below it. The hour glass floated upward until it was mere inches from touching the ceiling and with a loud beep the countdown clock activated. For a second Tsuna watched the numbers rapidly tick away until he jolted and threw himself out his bedroom door, tripping on his shoes.

"I need these." He mumbled upset as he scooped them off the floor and attempted to put them on as he ran. Shoving one onto his foot he hopped down the stairs and put on the other on once he reached the bottom, "No time for breakfast mama, I'm going to be late." He yelled to his mother in the kitchen as he picked up his bag, pausing only when he saw his brother slink into the room.

Iemaru was also a ditsy student in terms of arriving on time and grades. But he made up for it in pure athletic talent, he was brilliant in soccer and was one of the more popular kids in school. Most people didn't really realize that the two of them were twins, they knew they were related but people just generally liked Iemaru more. Tsuna personally thought Iemaru was a little arrogant and spoiled but Iemaru never paid Tsuna any attention so Tsuna never really thought too much on it.

"Hey Iemaru," Tsuna called out hesitantly.

With an agitated sigh his brother turned to look at him, "What now Tsuna, I'm busy."

Tsuna knew that when Iemaru said busy it meant he was trying to avoid something or just didn't want to talk to him but still Tsuna felt the smallest amount of pity for his brother who didn't get the cool mutation that he did and would probably have to deal with a whole bunch of psychopaths hunting him down and trying to kill him as a future mafia don. To think, that if his flame had actually manifested that would have been his life.

"Don't die." Those were the only words he had for the brother he had never been close with. Iemaru was still family, his brother and Tsuna was sure if there came a time when he needed to jump off a cliff for Iemaru, he'd do it but he'd rather not._  
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"What stupid crap are you spouting now?" Iemaru growled annoyed, "You're so lame Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna shrugged but faltered slightly when he noticed the box floating over his brother.

**Sawada Iemaru Lvl. 11**

Tsuna frowned, his brother was eight levels above him! But at the same time Tsuna was confused as to why he could see the levels of people other than himself, he couldn't even remember whether or not his mother had one too, so caught up in finding his uniform was he. Remembering his quest Tsuna squeaked and then fled the house, practically shouldering the door open and ignoring the yells of his brother. Blue numbers showed him how much time he had left.

"Twenty minutes?!" Speeding up he rounded corners so close to the building he was pretty sure he almost scrapped his skin once or twice. The contents of his bag rattled as he jumped over a ball that some child kicked, ignoring the pings that sounded off every time he cut corners, jumped or speed up and the like. Until finally he saw the gates of Namimori middle school.

Panting with exhaustion and lungs and legs burning, Tsuna brought a palm up to touch the sliding doorway of his homeroom, entering and collapsing in his desk by the window. An alert window showing up as he did so.

**Quest complete!**

**You arrived on time with six whole minutes to spare!**

**+1 DEX**

**+1 STR**

**+50 exp.**

**+100 with classmates**

**Bonus: Jumped ball +1 DEX**

**Dodged walls (Total: 6) +3 DEX**

**10% speed increase.**

_**LEVEL UP!**_

Tsuna gaped at how little it took to reach the next level, ecstatic at the points he was receiving but that happiness quickly died when he looked around the class room. All the levels of his classmates averaged out to be between level eight and seven. Even compared to the average person he was horrible, even with his recent level up.

"All right class." A male teacher called seconds after the bell rung, signalling the start of school hours. His light ginger hair defied gravity on the sides and out dated reading glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose. "Today we'll be picking up where we left off."

Tsuna for the life of him could not remember what they had been working on in math the day before, the same day he had been killed and activated his abilities even though to him it seemed only mere hours ago. He didn't even remember if he had been awake for this particular class, math. Numbers had never really been his forte- but then again, so hadn't the other subjects- so when Tsuna was handed a math text book, he wasn't very happy. With a groan he reached out to open the text book and start on a random page and to his utmost surprise it wasn't complete gibberish.

It was still hard and half of it was just plain French to him (no he did not know French) but still, it meant that the points put into INT had actually upped his intelligence, even if it was only enough to make him understand the fundamentals of- trigonometry- he noted.

"This is brilliant!" Tsuna whispered to himself in excitement.

"I can't imagine math being too exciting, especially for you monkey." The dark haired girl sitting in front of him commented, her head twisted around to peer at him with equally dark eyes.

**Kurokawa Hana lvl. 9**

Tsuna's heart stuttered in panic, people generally didn't talk to him and so one of the more popular girls in school willingly talking to him was a little surprising. Tongue stuck in his throat, Tsuna barely noticed a small icon appearing before him and lighting up signalling it's activation. Suddenly all of Tsuna's anxiety drained leaving him with a sense of peace, "Sorry to bother you Kurokawa-san. It's just, I can actually understand some of the things on this page. I'm just happy to be making progress." Tsuna smiled before muttering, "Although, most of it is incomprehensible."

The girl twisted the rest of her body around to look at Tsuna's work before raising a brow and looking at the text book, her lips quirking up in a smirk. "Dame-Tsuna, they gave you the wrong text book," She pointed at said item, "This is for students two years below us. The basics for trig."

With a sigh Tsuna nodded, "That explains why I was starting to get it." Though some part of him was sure that before his death he wouldn't have understood any of it.

Hana continued to smirk, "It's better for you anyway, you need to know the basics before you start building up on it. Like a house without foundations you know?" Tsuna nodded at her analogy, understanding and prompting her to go on. "You really want to learn?"

"Well yeah," Tsuna rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I've sort of had a wake up call, I realized that I've been doing nothing with my life and I'm going nowhere by sitting around and reading manga all day."

"I didn't know you were so thoughtful Dame-Tsuna." Hana said with slight interest making Tsuna chuckle. "Not really, I just decided I need something to get into college and university with. I mean Iemaru will probably get an athletics scholarship and mama will be happy to have a good student for a son." Tsuna said while flipping through his text book wondering if he should tell the teacher about it being the wrong one.

Hana hummed thoughtfully before nodding once to herself. "Then how about a tutor, more specifically, me. I'm pretty cheap, you can pay me with food."

"Eh?" Tsuna stuttered slightly, his heart rising in temp from hope, something that wasn't stopped by his Gamer's Mind ability because it wasn't a negative emotion, "I couldn't possibly take up your time Kurokawa-san."

"Nope!" The female flicked him lightly on the nose earning a small scowl from the boy, "It's Hana. Hana-sensei, say it." She teased despite being half serious.

"T-then you have to call me Tsuna...please." Seeing her look Tsuna quickly tacked on, "H-hana-sensei."

"Very well Tsuna. Our first lesson is free of charge and starts now." She declared with a grin, ignoring his protest of her losing time with her own work. "I've already gone over this chapter. Now, from the beginning..."

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><p><strong>(1)<strong>

**Through continuous studying INT and WIS increases by 2.5%**

Tsuna smiled at the alert window, his increase wasn't much but considering that it was done in a single hour he couldn't help but feel he was getting somewhere. Hana had taken him back to the bare basics, patiently explaining, then re-explaining when he still didn't get it. Slowly Tsuna was starting to understand what she was talking about and soon he understood what he had to do to figure out answers from that text book before the questions became more complex.

"Well done Tsuna. As far as students go, you're not the smartest," Hana smiled at his frown, "but you certainly are trying to get better."

"Thank you...Hana-sensei." Tsuna said, sending her a smile that he hoped showed her how much her helping him out meant to him and causing her to pause before coming up to ruffle his hair.

"Eat lunch with Kyoko and I." It wasn't a request but Tsuna still felt the need to decline based on manners, Hana not letting him. "I'd like to get to know you better Tsuna, you don't seem to be a monkey. I'm sure Kyoko wont mind."

Tsuna wanted to smile but instead ducked his head and sighed. "I don't think that everyone would appreciate 'Dame-Tsuna' being around the school idol." Though Tsuna said it, it wasn't exactly true. The school idol part, at least. Kyoko was of course, beautiful and popular, she hadn't yet become the poster girl for Namimori but he was sure that with time it would be true.

"It does seem to be that way doesn't it." Hana commented unaware that Tsuna hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Still, I want to eat lunch with you and I don't care for the opinion of monkeys. Do you?"

He sat stunned for a moment before grinning, "Not really, no."

The dark haired girl smirked, "Good."

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Once upon a time, Tsuna had been so sure that he had been in love with Kyoko, he had huddled that small flame right in the furthest part of his heart in hopes of protecting it in the way only a seven year old could. It had been many years since then, at thirteen Tsuna was so sure those feeling still existed. But as he watched brown hair flutter in the wind, long lashes sweep against smooth skin and his gamer's mind activated, his heart didn't so much as stutter. It didn't take long to figure out that Tsuna as a child had coveted a small Kyoko as the perfect being, smart, popular, nice and pretty and had mistaken panic and anxiety of this supposed perfect creature being near him for the starting point of love. She was everything he wasn't and his feeling of inferiority, along with his erratic heart became a misguided emotion, one he had spun himself.

Now though, he gazed at her and saw her for the human being she was, for the possible _friend _she was. His Gamer's mind left him feeling nothing but perfect calm after it had automatically activated when panic washed over him at the sight of her- the girl who could ruin his already failing life, despite being so nice- he had mistaken it for his crush flaring up again, until logic returned and made him more aware. It made him the slightest bit angry that his former reason to stay in school was nothing but the invention of his own mind but quickly let go, if anything it was his own fault.

"Then Hana-chan is tutoring you Sawada-san?" Came the voice of what he thought might have been his soul mate at one point. Tsuna nodded with a smile, sending his newly made dark haired friend a look of gratefulness and receiving a small nod of acknowledgment in return.

**Sasagawa Kyoko lvl. 8**

"Just Tsuna will do, Sasagawa-san Though, I'm afraid I'm not a very good student." Tsuna said with an ashamed flush before ducking his head.

Honestly Tsuna was more than embarrassed about his lacking grades along with his lacking, well, everything. If he had, had the right motivation he would have at least been able to understand the basics of the math in his own grade not the ones he had only learnt today that was meant for children in elementary. He didn't have to be an athletic student or even a great academic one, he just needed to be average and he would be satisfied.

"I'm sure that's not true, Tsuna." Kyoko assured him before smiling, "And I hope that you'll call me by my given name now that we're friends! We are friends, aren't we?"

Tsuna flushed once more making Hana snicker from beside him, "Y-yeah." Tsuna agreed, ignoring all the glares the surrounding student body gave him. He had no doubt that they were all angered that a nobody like him was engaging with the most popular girl in the grade and the girl who hated everyone with the exception of Kyoko and was also the smartest in the grade.

The responding glare and near silent scoff of Hana made something burn brightly within him, he would have called it his flames if he had any. It was the first time anyone other than his Mama had backed him up, even if no words were spoken.

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Tsuna couldn't remember being so happy in his life before, never as high on life as he was in this moment where he both sprinted and skipped towards his home having said his farewells to his newly made friends who had pre-made plans involving the student council. He would have never thought that dying would bring about a whole new light to his life. Everywhere he looked seemed to be that much brighter, that much more colorful and beautiful. Birds chirped and Tsuna wanted to sing along, everything was wonderful and he wanted to share his joy with the one person he could- his mother.

Tsuna burst through the front door of his home, not once giving a thought to the brother he had accidentally left behind on his impromptu run, prepared to shout out to his mother and sing her and the world praises only to be met with cold shocked silence that stopped anything from escaping his lips. His mother sat in a corner, knees drawn up to touch her chest, her arms circling a photo frame that Tsuna knew all too well. It starred a stupidly grinning blonde man with a single tanned arm wrapped carelessly around a younger Nana.

"T-tsu-kun." His mother sniffled, wiping tears from her eyes, a smile beginning to form, "I didn't think you would be back so early. Where is your brother?" Slowly she got up from her place in the corner, looking too much like a broken doll. Tsuna ignored his mothers question in favor of drawing closer and gently plucking the frame from her shaking hands. Silently he stared at the imbecile it depicted with a blank stare. It hadn't occurred to him before that his mother would get lonely without her husband considering she never so much as lost her smile during the time he spent with her. It brought up the question of how many tears she had shed over this man.

The thought made him want to crush the picture in his hands but instead chose to ask, "What's wrong, Mama?"

He knew what was wrong exactly, some idiot was breaking his heart while he was off mining oil. Actually, now that he thought about it, was his father really an oil worker? In order to be a don, Iemaru would have to have some blood connection to the Mafia's ruling party. Nana was the perfect mother if not a little oblivious, not to mention always present in the household unless shopping, she couldn't possibly be in the Mafia. That left Iemitsu, which meant the chances of him being an oil worker were extremely low and that he was actually off being some hot shot in some mafia. His father was a criminal and his mother probably had no idea. His gamer's mind didn't allow him to be pissed at his father, but it did allow complete disrespect on his part directed at the far older blonde because his conclusion meant that Iemitsu had chosen the life of guns and fighting over his wife and children.

Not to mention the dangers his profession brought upon them, just last week Tsuna had been shot in the head by what he now assumed was a mafia worker, a hit-man or mercenary. If not for his gamer's ability's activation, he would be dead. So not only was Iemitsu selfish, he was a certified brain damaged idiot who didn't think to leave guards or something to protect his family from avenging mafiaso. Tsuna wasn't the least bit intelligently inclined (His stats being less than average) but even he knew that his father had made a foolish mistake- he assumed.

"Mama just misses Papa, that's all." Nana once again swiped at her cheeks, the evidence of her sadness attempting to reappear. "Don't you worry Tsu-kun. How was your day? I noticed you didn't skip school today." She asked smiling and giving his nose a quick tap with her pointer finger.

Tsuna knew a deflection when he saw one, he even knew when a diversion was being placed in front of him, Tsuna was a professional at those himself. Many years of failed exams left him with nothing but experience at changing subjects subtly but never before had he witnessed his mother take a try at such arts. It was because of this that Tsuna merely smiled at his mother and followed her into their kitchen, the image of his father still kept in a death lock in his hands, white knuckles appearing vividly against the dark wood frame.

"I've decided to give school another try." Tsuna said almost absentmindedly while settling himself on a oak stool, watching as his mother paused the slightest bit before shooting him a sympathetic look and instantly he rushed to explain himself, "No! I promise this has nothing to do with Kyoko-san. I just want to make myself a future and make you proud. You do so much for me, Mama."

This time Nana fully whipped around, her neatly tied apron flying in the breaze she created, lips parted and eyes the same colour as his widened. Encouraged Tsuna plowed on, "It's not going to be easy, my grades aren't the best but I got myself a tutor, Kurokawa Hana. She's the smartest girl in my grade and we're," Tsuna hesitated for a moment, "Friends. We're friends, Kyoko-san and I too."

Tsuna laughed uncomfortably at his mothers still frame. "I mean, Iemaru will probably a soccer superstar or something. I could be...well, not a failure." He ended unsure, he really didn't know what he wanted to do with the rest of his game life. Tsuna was also aware that Iemaru would never become an athlete now, unless it involved guns and running for his life.

"That's...wondeful Tsu-kun!" More tears slipped down her face as she flung herself at her son, slim arms wrapping around his skinny, bean-pole of a body. Engulfed in warmth, Tsuna was happy they weren't tears of sadness, rather the opposite and as he wrapped his arms around his mother to return the hug Tsuna stared into the eyes of the father who he held in his hand over her shoulder and caramel eyes hardened.

Like steel, Tsuna just needed to be broken, melted down and exposed to the frigid air before transforming into something entirely solid.


End file.
